NOTAMs (notices to airmen) are continuous publications of aeronautical information, warning of particular conditions that can affect air operation, including in particular the taxiing phase at the airports. The NOTAMs deal with a large quantity of new or temporary information that can impact on the surface navigation at an airport. A non-exhaustive list could include: temporary closure of taxiways and runways, failure of runway and taxiway light beaconage, modification of ground signaling, presence of obstacles in the vicinity of a taxiway, taxiway restrictions for certain types of airplanes, bird-related risk, presence of animals, presence of helicopters, presence of works.
NOTAMs are structured according to a standard defined by the international civil aviation organization (ICAO). The following NOTAM is given as an example.
A) LFBO TOULOUSE BLAGNAC
B) 200511281350 C) 200601282359
E) TWY T70 CLOSED
The field A relates to the airport concerned. LFBO denotes the ICAO code of the airport. In the example, this is Toulouse Blagnac. The fields B and C refer to the start and end of validity dates and times. The field E contains the description. In this example, the Taxiway T70 is closed.
Currently, the NOTAMs are printed then consulted manually by the pilots when preparing for the flight. This solution is not entirely satisfactory because consulting the NOTAMs increases the workload of the pilots in flight preparation. Also, once on board the aircraft, the pilots have only printed NOTAMs and are not in a position to take note of the latest NOTAMs that are published. Furthermore, the aircraft's navigation aid systems, based on previously stored information, do not exploit this last-minute information and therefore do not faithfully reflect the reality at a given instant. Among these systems, there are the surface navigation system (called On Board Airport Navigation System—OANS) or the relief and obstacle detection system (Terrain Awareness and Warning System—TAWS).